A. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to attachable/wearable devices for lacing, tightening, and securing laces for shoes, sneakers, skates, and any other footwear utilizing laces.
B. Description of Related and Prior Art:
Oftentimes when children or adults are trying to tighten the laces on their skates or footwear there is great difficulty in tightening the laces. When parents are required to do the aforementioned for their child, they have no way of telling when the laces are tight enough or too tight because their own foot is not in the footwear. In addition, small children lack the nimbleness and small motor control and coordination to tighten the successive number of crossed-laces successfully with their fingertips. Adults often have arthritis, or fingers too large to fit around the laces, or have long fingernails that will break, all of which often makes tightening laces a nightmare. Should one be so lucky as to get their laces tight, just when they are trying to tie the first bow loop, the laces loosen and one must start over again.
While a metal hook for pulling skate laces does exist within a very narrow distribution, children and adults have found it difficult and/or ineffective to use. The hook is too short and thick to catch under or onto the laces. In addition, when pulling on the laces for tightening, the hook slips off. The handle is awkward. Small fingers can get stuck in the loop of the handle, and the handle is too large for a child to manage. Conversely, the handle is too narrow for large or arthritic hands to grasp. Because the device is also unnecessarily long, the lacing motion is awkward, particularly for young hands. A number of parents of young children are anxious about their child handling a device resembling a poker. One must also find a place to keep it in order to have it on hand when laces loosen. The unattractive form and lack of successful function of the metal device do little to attract usage. For these reasons, the metal hooks often lie dormant in a drawer while the child and adult continue to struggle through the lace tightening and tying process.
Repeated frustration with the aforementioned device inspired us to resolve these difficulties. The Attachable Lace Tightening Hook and Lace Securing Device is the end product of a long design and experimentation process which solved the above problems, whether for children or adults. We paid attention to the details necessary for the design in the hook, the handle, and the body of the device. The hook is shaped for ease in reaching around and under the laces without slipping off. The concave curve of the device facilitates a smoother hooking and pulling motion. The handle has been sized to accommodate the average child's or adult's hand. There are no areas within which a child's fingers can get stuck or pinched. The shape of the device is more compact and does not resemble a poker. In addition, the slots in the handle of the device hold the laces securely for tying. This solves the problem of the laces loosening before they are tied. Once the laces are tied onto the handle, the device is affixed to the footwear. This provides a very natural and decorative place to always have it "on foot" for use. A hole in the handle provides a means for alternative options for carrying or wearing the device on one's person, i.e. by passing a string, chain, ring, and the like, through the hole.